A collision avoidance system or a forward collision warning may warn a driver of an imminent collision. For example, the vehicle may be equipped with lasers or radar to detect objects in the vicinity of the vehicle. The nearby objects may be other vehicles, buildings, signs, pedestrians or pets. The distances between the nearby objects and the vehicle are measured. When there's a risk of hitting the nearby object, the system may sound an alarm to alert the driver. In an autonomous vehicle, the vehicle may also automatically apply the brakes or tighten the seat belts.
The data from collision avoidance systems are used in closed systems. That is, the detection of nearby objects are made at the vehicle and the alerts are provided to the passengers of the same vehicle. The closed systems do not provide any opportunity for compiling the occurrences of nearby objects across multiple vehicles or multiple instances in time.